THE BRITISH OPEN: Forecast: Formidable

* The major famous for its woeful weather opens today, and the elements are ripe for misery at what Gary Player calls 'the ultimate test.'

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England - In the 141 years since golf's oldest championship was first played, the British Open has advanced from hickory shafts to space-age metals, from the gutta percha ball to Pro V1, from Old Tom Morris to young Tiger Woods.

The one constant has been the weather.

Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club is the shortest course in the Open rotation, but an ally is never too far away.

The wind showed up in force - gale force, that is - on Wednesday as Woods got in a final practice round and others didn't even bother.

"I think people can lose their swings in this type of weather and then it changes," Colin Montgomerie said. "I don't think I'll play today."

Don't get the idea Lytham will turn into a mere pitch-and-putt if the wind doesn't whip off the Irish Sea.

There are 196 bunkers, most of them so severe that the best shot, sometimes the only shot, is simply getting out. Nick Price considered them equal to a water hazard, while David Duval offered an amusing perspective when asked about the challenges they present.

"I don't see much of a challenge in them," he said. "The challenge is to avoid them."

Royal Lytham has been rough this year too, and tee shots need only stray 6 feet from the edge of the fairways for players to discover how nasty it is.

But the biggest factor in this British Open, which has been the case since the 12 players gathered for the first one at Prestwick, Scotland, in 1860 is the wind and rain.

They took the week off at Royal Lytham in 1996 and Tom Lehman set a British Open record with a 15-under-par 198 through 54 holes. That was a far cry from 1979, when Seve Ballesteros won at 1-under 283, or 1974, when Gary Player won at 282.

"This is the ultimate test," Player said. "You are battling the mind more in this championship - and the elements - than any other of the major championships. This is the toughest to win, without question, because of the elements."

The toughest challenge in the field remains Woods.

St. Andrews was firm and dry and calm last year when Woods scorched the Old Course and ignored its bunkers to win by eight strokes with a 269, at 19-under the lowest score in relation to par in the history of major championships.

Woods completed his final practice round at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and even then the flagsticks were bending against the force of the wind.

Whether it stays that way today and the rest of the week remains to be seen.

The forecast is for more wind in the opening round before slightly calming the rest of the week.

"If it stays like this, it will be a pretty good test," Woods said.

He will try to become the first player since Tom Watson in 1983 to win back-to-back British Opens. A slew of other contenders will be trying to win their first major - from 38-year-old Montgomerie to 21-year-old Sergio Garcia.

Garcia got some bad news in the afternoon. First, his assistant business manager, Carlos Rodriguez, broke a leg after being struck by a golf cart near the clubhouse. Hours later, Garcia was fined by the European PGA Tour for comments he made about the greens at Loch Lomond during last weekend's Scottish Open.

Whether either disruption will affect his game remains to be seen. Garcia, who has won twice on the PGA Tour in the last three months, played his first British Open at Royal Lytham as a 16-year-old. He returns now as a threat to become Woods' rival.

"I have been playing pretty well for the last three months, and everything has been working quite well," the Spaniard said. "But with this kind of weather, you never know what is going to happen."

He was certain of only a few things.

A record score is not likely to be posted. And no one - not even Woods - seems capable of running away from the field under harsh conditions.

"That will be the best thing for all of us, to have a closer tournament," Garcia said. "When the wind blows, this is a hell of a tournament, there is no doubt about that."

The last time the British Open got that treacherous combination of elements - high rough and lots of wind - was just two years ago at Carnoustie, when Paul Lawrie won a playoff after finishing at 6-over 290.

Montgomerie called that Open the most difficult by far.

"If the wind persists tomorrow, you could find some people change their mind about Carnoustie to here," he said.

Heavy rains in recent months have turned fairways green and lush, making the 6,905-yard course play slightly longer but also preventing drives from running out into the rough or the pot bunkers. The greens are relatively small and flat, meaning anything on the putting surface will leave a decent chance at birdie.

Getting to the green is the key.

"I think the way it is set up right now, it is very similar to Carnoustie," Woods said. "The only difference is the fairways are a little bit wider and softer. It's going to be quite a challenge."

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